Samsung DX Union Rallies with Over 3,500 Workers Calling for Management to Account for Failures

The Samsung Electronics Union Donghaeng (hereinafter referred to as Donghaeng Union), primarily composed of employees from Samsung Electronics' DX (Device eXperience) division covering home appliances, TVs, and smartphones, held a rally claiming that the decline in profitability is a failure of management and demanding the creation of a common financial resource.

The Donghaeng Union held a rally near the Samsung Electronics Seocho building in Seocho-gu, Seoul, today (the 21st), stating, "The company is shifting all the responsibility for management failures onto its employees." They asked, "Why do executives get compensated based on company-wide performance while employees are told to fend for themselves by business unit? Why do the costs of poor management decisions fall back on employees in the form of cost cuts and workforce reductions? The company must answer."

The Donghaeng Union emphasized that the profitability deterioration of the DX division, including the MX business unit turning a deficit, is the fault of management.

They argued that although the rise in memory prices, which was the main cause, was a predictable factor, management failed to prepare through long-term supply contracts or SCM (supply chain management) cost defense.

According to the organizers, approximately 3,500 people attended the rally today.

Rally participants marched near the Samsung Electronics Seocho building while chanting slogans such as "Step down, Park Hak-kyu and Jung Hyun-ho," "Take responsibility for management failures," and "Explain the record sales and record deficit."

The Donghaeng Union demanded • the provision of 1,000 shares of company stock per DX division employee, • the creation of a common resource based on a certain percentage of company-wide performance, and • the uniform application of the base-up (base salary increase) rate across the entire company.

Explaining the rationale for calculating 1,000 shares of company stock as compensation, they stated that during the past boom times of the DX division, values were reinvested into semiconductors and other areas for company-wide competitiveness instead of receiving additional performance distribution, and 1,000 shares correspond to that value.

The Donghaeng Union added, "This is not simply a groundless demand to 'give us as much as the DS division,' and if the company judges that the demand for 1,000 shares is excessive, we are willing to have the company present objective contribution evaluation criteria and verify them together."

They argued that common resources are necessary to mutually and long-term offset imbalances arising from business cycle differences between the semiconductor and finished product industries.

They claimed that a virtuous cycle should be created through a structure where a certain percentage of company-wide performance is accumulated as a common resource and then distributed according to the performance of each business unit.

Meanwhile, some critics point out that the timing of this rally lacks justification, calling it a "belated struggle."

There is also criticism that demanding 1,000 shares of company stock per person, amounting to roughly 12 trillion won amid the business crisis of the DX division, is an unreasonable request.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.